Geekly Update - 13 October 2021

The AskBobRankin Geekly Update

James T. Kirk, captain of the Starship Enterprise, was no stranger to space travel. But William Shatner, the 90-year-old actor who played Kirk in the Star Trek series, can now check "Going To Space, For Real" off his bucket list. Shatner joined a crew aboard the Blue Origin New Shepard rocket this morning, and described the quick trip to space and back as a "profound experience." Rumors that Shatner purchased his ticket on Priceline could not be confirmed at this time.

When I was a kid, my Dad would always say "Throw your shoulders back, stand up straight!" Kids of today may soon be getting that sage advice from their Apple AirPods. The company is reportedly working on an Airpod update that would monitor your posture and temperature.

This just in from the Swipe Right Department: Security vendor Sophos reports that a scam involving popular dating apps such as Tinder, Bumble, and Facebook Dating has resulted in the theft of millions of dollars. The scam involves tricking users into downloading fraudulent crypto apps, facilitated by exploiting a loophole in Apple's Developer Enterprise program.

If the desktop is dead, then why were 84 million sold in the third quarter of this year? Research firm Canalys says global PC shipments rose in Q3/2021, but by only 5 percent. Vendors are unable to meet demand due to disruptions to the global supply chain and logistics network.

Biomed startup firm Twin Health has developed technology that creates a “digital twin” capable of modeling a patient's metabolism. The software suggests changes to nutrition, sleep, and activity, with an aim of preventing or reversing diabetes and other chronic metabolic diseases.

The Intercept has obtained a leaked copy of Facebook's secret blacklist of Dangerous Individuals and Organizations. The list of 4000+ people and groups is mostly terrorists, but also includes politicians, writers, charities, hospitals, musicians.

Krebs on Security reports that cyber-thieves are getting cleverer. The scammers are creating millions of Coinbase accounts to identify active email addresses associated with the accounts. A phishing campaign then targets the one-time passwords needed to complete the Coinbase login process.

Just Here For the Headline: Microsoft And Nvidia Create 105-Layer, 530 Billion Parameter Language Model That Needs 280 A100 GPUs, But It's Still Biased.

Do smart headbands make people calmer? The gadgets use neurofeedback or EEG to measure the wearer's brainwaves and detect stress. Used in conjunction with meditation, the headbands are being used by athletes to train themselves to be calmer, and boost their performance.

Amid reports of cracking screens on its newest foldable phones, Samsung has released a video showing a series of stress tests on the Galaxy Z Fold3 and Flip3 5G. The tests show the phones being subjected to heat, cold, water, and repeated folding by a robot arm.

Your thoughts on these topics are welcome. Post your comment or question below...